The Fourth Circuit vacated the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's CWA §401 certification for a proposed pipeline that would transport natural gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia. Landowners and environmental groups petitioned for review of the certification, arguing the ...

The Fourth Circuit denied a petition to review the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ's) and the State Water Control Board's approval of a state water permit for a proposed pipeline that would transport natural gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia. Environmental groups argued...

A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for environmental groups in a lawsuit concerning FWS' management of grizzly bear recovery in the Bitterroot Ecosystem. The groups argued FWS violated NEPA and the APA by choosing not to implement grizzly bear recovery plans adopted...

A district court granted in part an environmental group's motion for summary judgment in a challenge to NMFS' 2021 permit authorizing the incidental taking of ESA-listed humpback whales in a sablefish fishery off the Pacific coast. The group argued NMFS violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMP...

The Ninth Circuit reversed in part and vacated in part a district court's decision in a challenge to the Federal Subsistence Board's 2020 approval of two short-term changes to hunting practices on federal land in Alaska—the opening of an emergency deer and moose hunt for a federally recognized tri...

A district court granted in part and denied in part FWS' motion to dismiss a challenge to the Service's failure to comply with deadlines for listing species as threatened or endangered and for designating critical habitats for them. An environmental group sought to compel FWS to make 12-month findin...

A district court granted summary judgment for DOI in a federally recognized tribe's challenge to the agency's refusal to take land into trust for a casino. The tribe argued DOI misinterpreted the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act (Michigan Act), and that its refusal violated the APA. The co...

A district court denied the Army Corps of Engineers' motion to dismiss an ESA citizen suit alleging the Corps' operation of a dam in California was unlawfully taking protected salmon species. An individual argued the Corps violated the ESA by jeopardizing salmon populations with the dam's flood cont...

The Fifth Circuit reversed summary judgment for NOAA and NMFS in a challenge to the agencies' rule requiring charter boat owners to install NMFS-approved vessel monitoring systems (VMSs) to track the vessels' GPS locations. Charter boat captains argued the rule's tracking requirement exceeded the au...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's order granting voluntary remand and vacating EPA's 2020 CWA Section 401 Certification Rule. States, environmental groups, and tribes challenged the rule, arguing it unlawfully restricted states' and tribes' ability to reject water pollution projects. Bef...